As China's Communist Party Congress continues, the country has received some good news on the economic front.

Inflation in China has been recorded at its lowest level in nearly three years, giving policy-makers more room to move in terms of stimulus measures.

The consumer price index rose 1.7 per cent year-on-year last month, the National Bureau of Statistics announced, compared with an increase of 1.9 per cent in September.

The figure marked the sixth month out of the past seven that consumer inflation had slowed and marked the lowest since 1.5 per cent was recorded in January 2010.

The low inflation number follows healthy manufacturing sentiment figures, and all this seems to be pointing to a Chinese economy on the way up.

With the Communist Party Congress continuing in Beijing, the country is preparing for a major leadership change and those who inherit power could be looking at a China growing at a faster rate.

Officials took steps to boost economic growth by cutting interest rates twice in less than a month earlier this year, and they also reduced the amount of funds banks must keep in reserve three times since last December in bids to encourage lending.

Producer prices - which measure the costs of goods as they leave factories and are seen as a leading indicator of price trends - remained in deflation, declining 2.8 per cent in October, NBS data showed.

While that marked the eighth straight month of year-on-year contraction, it came at a weaker pace. Producer prices had fallen 3.6 per cent in September.

Ties with Taiwan

Meanwhile, Taiwan's leaders are considering inviting the new rulers in Beijing to visit the island.

Officially, mainland China and Taiwan are still enemies.

Beijing considers the island a rogue province which should be returned to the motherland, but most Taiwanese politicians say they will not rejoin the mainland until their current freedoms are guaranteed.

Yet Taiwan's president, Ma Ying-jeou, has said in an interview that the leaders who come to power at the end of the Communist Party Congress could be invited there if the conditions were right.

On Thursday, China's president Hu Jintao called for a peace agreement.

Mr Ma said while peace was a priority, it would depend on the conditions of any deal.